European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker (left) speaks with European Parliament President Antonio Tajani (right) at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on July 1, 2017 | Sebastien Bozona/AFP via Getty Images

Tajani: ‘I don’t have personal problems with Juncker’

STRASBOURG, France — European Parliament President Antonio Tajani on Wednesday denied any bad blood with Jean-Claude Juncker, a day after he sharply rebuked the European Commission president for calling the Parliament "ridiculous."

In a brief interview with POLITICO, Tajani insisted the matter was closed and said he had no problems with either Juncker or European Council President Donald Tusk.

"I have close relations with the European Commission," he said, in response to a direct question about his relationship with Juncker. "The cooperation between Parliament and the European Commission is crucial. For me, the incident is closed. This Parliament is not ridiculous. We are working a lot."

He added, "I don't have personal problems with Juncker, with Tusk. I am a friend of everyone."

But Tuesday's episode — in which the Parliament president clearly felt insulted on behalf of his institution and Juncker later expressed "regret" for his choice of words but pointedly did not apologize — highlighted a relationship between the two presidents that is decidedly indifferent: not overtly hostile, people who know both men say, but clearly lacking any warmth or camaraderie.

"Look, there is not a love affair," said Elmar Brok, the veteran German MEP, who like Juncker and Tajani is a member of the European People's Party political family. He brushed off the incident on Tuesday as insignificant.

"I don't have personal problems with Juncker, with Tusk. I am a friend of everyone" — European Parliament President Antonio Tajani

The lack of a personal bond stands in sharp contrast to Juncker's close friendship with Tajani's predecessor, Martin Schulz — a friendship forged even though the German politician was not only a leader of the rival Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, but was also Juncker's opponent in the 2014 contest for the Commission presidency.

The relationship with Schulz, based on a shared bon vivant spirit and common intellectual and internationalist outlook, also proved tremendously expedient from a political and governing perspective. Together, Juncker and Schulz led a "grand coalition" that helped speed legislation and smooth inter-party disagreements, even as some MEPs chafed that too much was controlled at the top.

And while Juncker's outburst on Tuesday was ostensibly over MEPs failing to show up for a speech by Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, leaving the vast hemicycle in Strasbourg largely empty, it also reflected a spilling over of frustration building for these last six months.

Consequences of collapse

One EU official said it was impossible to escape the consequences of the collapse of the grand coalition, which has made it harder to pull together the votes needed to close legislative files.

"The European Parliament at times gives the impression that it has slowed down a bit since the Schulz days," the official said. "This is not necessarily the result of Tajani. It would be very unfair to Antonio to blame him for that."

"It has nothing to do with Juncker-Tajani," the official said. "You have more polarized politics in Parliament and this shows."

But the distance between the two men is unmistakable.

Tajani has featured on Juncker's official calendar only six times over the past six months and four of those occasions were events with other officials, such as a meeting of the five EU presidents in May, or a press conference with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini in June. There were only two one-on-one working lunches.

Tajani gave an opening speech that was full of broad platitudes about European ideals. Juncker quoted the French philosopher Blaise Pascal and spoke in deeply personal terms about his close relationship with Kohl, and about Kohl's place in history, including watching the German statesman, overcome with emotion, weeping on the day in 1997 when EU leaders agreed to expand the bloc to the east.

Tajani told POLITICO that he regarded Juncker's expression of regret over his choice of words in Tuesday's Parliament session as an apology — even though that is not a term the Commission president or his staff have used.

"This problem is closed because the president of the European Comission apologized for this speech," Tajani said.

Brok, the German MEP, described Tuesday's clash as unfortunate.

"Juncker had a point," he said. "But you cannot say it that way and, as he said it that way, Tajani could only react as he did."